middle-age; middle age; midlife; one's middle years
smith; blacksmith; small crowbar for extracting nails; cat's paw
of no use whatsoever; good for nothing; useless
to shake one's head (in disagreement); to disagree; to refuse; to say no; to turn down (a request)
brute force approach (esp. in a video game)
opposite effect; adverse effect; backfiring
to be shut; to close; to be locked; to tighten; to be tightened; to become sober
off the top of one's head; from thin air; from memory
to sing; to chirp; to twitter
each house; every house; house to house; door to door
persistence; single-mindedness; sticking to one point; always making the same bet
homework; assignment; pending issue; unresolved problem; open question
to be truant; to slack off; to play hooky; to skip school; to cut class; to skip out
tearfully; in tears; weeping; reluctantly; unwillingly; with a heavy heart
to collect; to put (it all) together; to summarize; to aggregate; to bring to a conclusion; to finalize
to finish up; to complete; to finish off; to get through; to polish off
only; just; (ever) since; after; continuously; remaining (in a particular state)
to be worried; to be troubled
there's no (other) way; cannot be helped; unavoidable; it's no use (doing); pointless; hopeless (person)
to pull oneself together; to collect oneself (after a failure); to regain control (of oneself)
to visit; to call on; to pay a visit to
unfortunately; sorry, but ...
the usual; as it always is; said; that (previously-mentioned person or object); (arch.) in the usual way
drawing water; black cotton hat (used as a prop)
mum; mom; mummy; wifey; dear; missus
dad; daddy; papa; pa; pop
along the river; riverside
to draw (water, etc.); to scoop up; to pump up; to draw on (ideas) (from subordinates, the public, etc.); to take into account; to adopt
groundwater; underground water
to move (house); to change residence
or something; for instance ... (though there are other suitable options); ... or ...; as soon as; right after; while still
middle section of a song (in gagaku or noh)
Hard Times (The Streetfighter) (film)
to play (games, sports); to enjoy oneself; to mess about (with alcohol, gambling, philandery, etc.); to be idle; to do nothing; to meet up (with friends); to hang out
noisy; loud; annoying; troublesome; fussy; finicky
to have tears in one's eyes; to be close to crying
to hold; to carry; to embrace (in one's arms)
unexpected meeting; coincidence